Resetting the MySQL root password

Last modified on July 24, 2026 • 1 min read • 77 words If you have forgotten your MySQL root password, you can reset it if you have physical access to the machine mysql is running on: Find the .pid file of the mysql process. It is either called mysql.pid or machinename.pid. Kill the mysql process. On my MacOS X server e.g. kill cat /usr/local/mysql-standard-4.0.16-apple-darwin6.6-powerpc/data/localhost.pid`` Restart the mysql server /usr/local/mysql-standard-4.0.16-apple-darwin6.6-powerpc/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables & Set the new root password (replace newpassword with the new password!) /usr/local/mysql-standard-4.0.16-apple-darwin6.6-powerpc/bin/mysqladmin -u root flush-privileges password "newpassword" Done!